AMD Radeon R9 290X CrossFire Video Card Review @ [H]

Elios said:
crossfire indeed

wow heat is huge issue with this card sucks if you some where that gets hot in the summer
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Lol, you come into every 290x thread and say the same thing and despite numerous people explaining it to you, you still come back saying it.

But, i am going to try this a different way. Please explain how a room will get hotter with the 290x than the 780gtx. I want to hear you explain it.
 
Nice review [H]!

I'm pretty concerned about 95C temps though. I would slide the fan to max for sure.

Can't wait to see comparisons to 780ti's single card and SLI.

I am also interested in the framerate smoothness you mentioned, this sounds like 180 degree change for AMD. Having been burned by their shitty drivers in the past, do you feel that this issue has been reliably put behind them? For the various card models, and implementations such as triple and quad gpu? If the SLI was choppy do you think you just pushed it too far? Vram sizes affect the smoothness?

Glancing at the leaked specs of the 780ti, I really would have preferred a 4gb part.
 
Not a Nvidia fan at all. I had to fix several desktops and laptops with their overheated video chips. I stopped repairing them now because the cost to rework and labor out wieghs the benefit. AMD is not perfect but way better than Nvidia. I tell friends and family get a new laptop with either Intel or AMD video cards.

I am a gamer but the benefit in gaming to point of frustration is important. I don't like get frustated when gaming, good fps is enough with AMD video cards, don't need the fastest fps. Nice to hear that they are gaining on Nvidia, it's about time.

With how fast CPU's are getting and video are getting, you'll need to water cool them. The market is mature enough to find the perfect water cooler.
 
I made the mistake of buying 3x 2560x1440 monitors & a 6990 for eyefinity a while back. Huge mistake due to performance but most of the major problems were due to DRM. I gave up and game on 1 monitor leaving 2 for media & other stuff but the 6990 still struggles at times and this makes the stutter more noticeable. This card looks like a much better option than the Titan and might even make 3 screen gaming usable (and in time for X Rebirth too).
 
reaper12 said:
Lol, you come into every 290x thread and say the same thing and despite numerous people explaining it to you, you still come back saying it.

But, i am going to try this a different way. Please explain how a room will get hotter with the 290x than the 780gtx. I want to hear you explain it.
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To be fair, it is an extra ~130 watts of heat being transferred into the surroundings.

But I don't think he understands the basics of heat/energy and how it is transferred and doesn't magically disappear. If an aftermarket 290x with a better cooler got the card itself down to 70C at load, that still doesn't mean there is less heat in the room, it just means it is being transferred to the surroundings quicker. Simple stuff here, but most fanboys want to twist laws/theorems just to help their cause :D (This isn't directed at you reaper12, just making that clear ;) )
 
Appears a clear XCrossfire win over SLI. The Reference design seems less great. Which was pretty much the point of the article.
If this XCrossfire experience could expand across the whole AMD range could be a serious win/win proposition.
 
xIronCrossx said:
To be fair, it is an extra ~130 watts of heat being transferred into the surroundings.

But I don't think he understands the basics of heat/energy and how it is transferred and doesn't magically disappear. If an aftermarket 290x with a better cooler got the card itself down to 70C at load, that still doesn't mean there is less heat in the room, it just means it is being transferred to the surroundings quicker. Simple stuff here, but most fanboys want to twist laws/theorems just to help their cause :D (This isn't directed at you reaper12, just making that clear ;) )
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I understand you are not directing this at me, but you are misunderstanding the reason I asked him to explain it. It's not about crossfire either, it's about single card situations, this is what he keeps saying in every 290x thread. And I wanted him to explain how he works out that it's going to make the room hotter.

And just asking you a question too :p But would a person really notice an extra 60 watts of heat in a room?
 
Finally AMD is getting up to the game.
Frame pacing solved, good crossfire experience and top performance. This resembles the Radeon 9700 vs. GeForce FX 5800 times, when NVIDIA quickly launched Ultra and mega ultra super duper versions of their cards with space heater features. Although now is the 290X the card that puts out more heat, but the performance is there.

Now their OpenGL and Linux support should improve.Probably it will get better due to SteamOS.
 
PeeWeePee said:
well i meant more as in so card doesn't throttle to make sure you get 100% out of card in crossfire configuration
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The [H}] didn't have a problem with throttling in their x-fire review, so why even bring it up? Even in a case, another site used an infrared camera that showed all the heat is being exhausted, so no meaningful heat is being put into the case.
 
darkstarcow said:
The [H}] didn't have a problem with throttling in their x-fire review, so why even bring it up? Even in a case, another site used an infrared camera that showed all the heat is being exhausted, so no meaningful heat is being put into the case.
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yea @ cost of fan sounding like jet engine i should have included that in my post
[H] mentions in review that fan is VERY LOUD in crossfire because you have to go all way to keep it cooled
i don't know about you but i would like my machine quiet when i'm playing games with my 5.1 surround speakers
 
Wow, what a showing from AMD. If I gamed in surround instead of 1440p, I'd consider swapping my 780 SLI for 290X CF (non-ref).
 
I wonder how much changing the stock TIM would do. I just recently changed the TIM on my 7950's and the temperatures dropped by like 30C.
 
cannondale06 said:
30C temp drop? um what? I may be half asleep here but that does not sound logical at all.
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Eh maybe it wasn't all due to the changing of the TIM, but a lot of it was. You should have seen that disgusting shit they applied, it was like they covered the whole die in 2 inches of gunk
 
Tak Ne said:
I made the mistake of buying 3x 2560x1440 monitors & a 6990 for eyefinity a while back. Huge mistake due to performance but most of the major problems were due to DRM. I gave up and game on 1 monitor leaving 2 for media & other stuff but the 6990 still struggles at times and this makes the stutter more noticeable. This card looks like a much better option than the Titan and might even make 3 screen gaming usable (and in time for X Rebirth too).
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It's too late to buy a Titan - that was 6-8 months ago, a bit of gouging but no real early adopters fee. Now, if you can wait, maybe 2 custom cooled 290x for those 1440P monitors. IMHO these cards are for open 'test' setups, so regardless of how the custom coolers work, plenty of air - many custom jobs cool better but blow heat all over the place. gl
 
..and, OI, YOU @ [H] there, methinks you have THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD !!!! Even with your time constraints, you still have the best job around - promoting fun, no disrespect meant, I know how hard 'PCing' can get when you have deadlines...YOU STILL HAVE THE BEST JOB AROUND!!!!(apart from mine but if I told you what I did I would have to self-destruc:)t..)
AMD have done a great job fixing CF, their performance @high res seems excellent with good scaling..Currently, 4k is irrelevant for 99% of the 1% but @least it works as advertised, something Nvidia cannot say and for those that DO have 4k, amazing that the cheaper solution works so well.
WD with the article - did I tell you guys you have the best jobs around?
 
Hey Kyle,

The reason SLI doesn't work on 4k monitors in some games, is because nVidia says they are running in "fake full screen mode", e.g. Borderless windowed mode, and nVidia does NOT support SLi with MST enabled in windowed games. FFXIV exhibits the same behavior... At least this is what Ray@nVidia has said in my ticket.

After reading this review, I'm seriously considering going to AMD because of all the 4k support hacks nVidia made to their drivers.
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
Yeah that seems ridiculous to me too. I've never seen much more than a couple of degress difference when changing tim.
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Well I know if YOU have never seen it before it must be blasphemy.....

My card went from instantly going to 100C within a game to sticking around ~70ish.

The only other thing I changed was a fan that was previously pulling air from the space in between the cards is now blowing on it and of course the TIM.
 
Great info. Excellent review. Bridgeless Xfire is an idea that is long overdue. It can only improve as ways are found to utilize it better and drivers improve. Wonder if/when we'll see bridgeless SLI?
 
xIronCrossx said:
Well I know if YOU have never seen it before it must be blasphemy.....

My card went from instantly going to 100C within a game to sticking around ~70ish.

The only other thing I changed was a fan that was previously pulling air from the space in between the cards is now blowing on it and of course the TIM.
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Then the cooler wasn't seated properly to begin with. Thats what made the difference, not the tim.

[H] used fucking mayo in a tim review and it didn't even make that big of a difference.
 
If your card went from instantly going to 100c to sticking around 70c after reseating the cooler (changing tim). The cooler clearly wasn't seated properly. I don't know what to tell you.
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
If your card went from instantly going to 100c to sticking around 70c after reseating the cooler (changing tim). The cooler clearly wasn't seated properly. I don't know what to tell you.
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Whoever applies the Thermal Paste onto the graphics cards sucks at it. I bet 90% of overheating issues are due to the thermal paste being applied horribly. It's not the specific TIM that makes the difference, it's how it's applied that makes the difference. Too much = fail, and that is what most cards seem to come with stock.

Here you go.




FYI, this is in Crossfire with maybe a 3-4mm gap in between the cards, I haven't checked what temperatures are with the card by itself.
 
Very impressive! Nice job [H] crew! This week should be fun :)

Looking forward to seeing the 780ti, the 290 non-X and of course Mantel. By mid December I should know what I'm getting myself for Christmas.
 
I would imagine that its not done by hand. I would imagine that it comes pre-applied just like most aftermarket cpu coolers these days.

Again, you had a bad mount. Your results are far from the norm. Redoing the tim isn't going to magically make these cards that run much cooler.

Anyways, I'm done.
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
I would imagine that its not done by hand. I would imagine that it comes pre-applied just like most aftermarket cpu coolers these days.

Again, you had a bad mount. Your results are far from the norm. Redoing the tim isn't going to magically make these cards that run much cooler.

Anyways, I'm done.
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Remember the HD2900Pros? Those were really hot too. Replaced TIM, over 20C temperature drop. I'm just saying it's something to consider and try out if you aren't happy with the temperatures.
 
Godmachine said:
My god it must be over 100C then..

That's crazy. Regardless if its rated to 125C I would not risk over 100C for an OC.
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wouldn t go past 95c , uber is only 55% fan ...
100% fan + uber =65 ~ 75% speed.
so overclocked should go higher speed than that...keeping it within 95c
 
Godmachine said:
My god it must be over 100C then..

That's crazy. Regardless if its rated to 125C I would not risk over 100C for an OC.
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So uh, you havent actually read any of the reviews on the 290x have you? because if you had, you would know it wont go higher then 95c as that is what the card is limited to.
 
Godmachine said:
My god it must be over 100C then..

That's crazy. Regardless if its rated to 125C I would not risk over 100C for an OC.
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Lololol You don't have a clue do you?

The 290x will never go above 95C. You should try reading some of the reviews about how the card actually works.
 
I'm going to be trying this 290x CF setup reviewed here. Noticed in the review, that eyefinity has to connected to one card only. Is this true? And does this mean I have to get an adapter ( dvi, or Display port) for a triple 1440p Korean monitor setup?
 
DASHlT said:
I mean is it AMD's fault alot of the newer titles are AMD centric games?

Metro has Nvidia Physx.....but yea you cant blame reviews for using AMD sponsered games since ALOT of the newer games are....
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I think one could joke it IS AMD's fault a lot of the newer titles are AMD centric by securing the spot as all three newest consoles GPU/CPU manufacturers. IE, Wii-u, PS4 and Xbox One. Anyone creating a multi-platform console game is going to want to optimize for AMD for the next 6-10 years or so. Depending on the lifespan of the Wii-U, PS4 and Xbox One.

As a video card purchaser that tends to make large-dual-card upgrades every 3-years (Ie 2x5870 and soon 2x290x once aftermarket built-in coolers(XFX?) are available), I'd like games to be tested that are somewhat forecasting of the following 3 years. While AMD owns all 3 consoles, I think the majority of games will be slightly more AMD optimized than nVidia. There will be exceptions. Like maybe 1 in 5 games? Hey... Metro...1 in 5 games was NV sponsered and the rest AMD. So that somewhat fits, what we might expect to see during the lifetime of my ownership of these cards. I am totally ok with that.

Anyone know how long it'll be till a HIS or XFX 290X comes out? My Birthday is in late November and was hoping they'd be out by then ;) but I suppose I could give one to myself as an x-mas present too...
 
MasterT said:
I'm going to be trying this 290x CF setup reviewed here. Noticed in the review, that eyefinity has to connected to one card only. Is this true? And does this mean I have to get an adapter ( dvi, or Display port) for a triple 1440p Korean monitor setup?
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yes it's connected to only one card, as far as adapters go, the cards should already come with them. but yeah you'll have to use 2 DVI + 1 display port
 
Has anyone seen a CFX review of R9 290X with an overclock compared to a Titan OC or 780 OC? Would be interesting. Unfortunately, all the reviews I have seen do not benchmark with this information :(.
 
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